Nikolas Cruz pleaded guilty on Wednesday on all charges related to the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 14 students and three staff members dead.
Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty to 17 murder counts and 17 counts of attempted first-degree murder for opening fire at the high school three years ago. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer will shift the trial to a penalty phase, in which a 12-member jury will determine Cruz’s punishment.
“I am very sorry for what I did, and I have to live with it every day,” Cruz said. “I have to live with this every day, and it brings me nightmares that I can’t live with myself, sometimes, but I try to push through.”
PARKLAND SHOOTER NIKOLAS CRUZ TO PLEAD GUILTY TO MURDERS OF 14 STUDENTS AND THREE TEACHERS
Lawyers for Cruz have signaled he would plead guilty in the hopes of receiving a life sentence rather than the death penalty.
However, prosecutors have pushed back against Cruz’s legal team, saying they believe the death penalty should be considered.
Nikolas Cruz makes a statement in court as he pleads guilty to the Parkland shooting. pic.twitter.com/dx5Yra1vKi
— Zach Purser Brown (@zachjourno) October 20, 2021
Last week, the 23-year-old also pleaded guilty to attacking a jail guard nine months following the shooting.
The 2018 shooting in Parkland set off a trend of activism from survivors of the attack, prompting the March for Our Lives demonstration group through which students throughout the United States called for stricter gun laws.
The group said it had no comment on Cruz’s plea, adding it would “never dignify him by referring to his name.”
“A single guilty plea does not bring closure as long as it is still possible for another person anywhere in this country to be murdered by a gun at school, in a place of worship, or in their very own home,” March for Our Lives wrote in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
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Hearings to select the sentencing jury for Cruz will be scheduled throughout November and December with a goal of beginning testimony in January, according to the Associated Press.
